Saturday, May 11, 2013

Dear Michael Jefferies, CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch

For the last couple days you have been scrutinized for the way you are discriminating against size. As I was reading remarks you have said regarding your company, one particular phrase hit me like a ton of bricks, "I really don't care what anyone other than our target audience thinks". Well I just happen to be your target audience, so I guess it is time that I speak up and stand for what I believe in. I am the girl that wears a size 0/2. I am the girl that loves making friends and getting to know people. But I am also the girl that struggles putting weight on. I am the girl that believes size isn't everything. I am the girl who has been teased because of how petite I am. I am the girl that will stand up for discrimination every opportunity I get.

Beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes. Beauty is found in imperfections and flaws. Beauty to me is standing up for what you believe in. I believe in embracing everyone for the person they are inside. If beauty only came in one category then why are we all born with different colored eyes, different colored skin, different hair and different sizes? There is no cookie cutter mold that we are supposed to follow or we would be placed on this earth all identical.

If being cool means I have to pay $78 for a pair of jeans that supports discrimination, eating disorders, low self-esteem and possibly even suicide, then I don't think I can ever support being "cool" again. I own clothing pieces from your store and I can't picture myself wearing them ever again. Being exclusionary is not okay to me.

Who are you to say that a waist size is what determines if a person is "good enough"? Who made you the leader of popularity? I don't respect your company or the messages you are sending the youth today. The youth in the world today are our future, they are at a very vulnerable phase in life right now and the messages and beliefs you are passing on to them are unacceptable. I can no longer support your Abercrombie brand until something changes.

Mike, I don't know you personally, and I'm a girl that tries really hard not to judge others because we all have a story and I know I am not perfect. I don't know your story but I pray for you. I pray for your heart to be aware of the message you are sending youth. I pray for your eyes to be open to the damaging effects of low self-esteem that has been created and the eating disorders that have occurred so youth can fit into your brand. I pray for your soul to have a deeper love for humanity. I pray for your heart to be accepting to the ones you have hurt and forgotten.

While you have every right as the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch to market to whoever you would like to, the remark ""In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids" "Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don't alienate anybody, but you don't excite anybody, either."sends a message that I can not support and will not support. I see your business going in trouble real soon. Also I happen to love vanilla.